When You Damage a Tooth, Do You Need to Repair Other Teeth, Too?

If you damage a tooth in an accident, you might be unhappy with what that does to your smile. But you might not know whether you can repair just that one tooth, or if it’s like cleaning one spot on a dirty wall–you have to do the entire thing or it won’t look right.

Restorative dentistry isn’t like cleaning: it’s a lot more sophisticated, and that gives you options.

We Can Restore Just the Damaged Tooth

People often think that if they get one tooth repaired, it won’t match their other teeth. However, that’s not the case, if you work with a skilled cosmetic dentist.

While it can be very hard to match just one tooth to the rest, it’s not impossible. The modern cosmetic dentistry materials used in ceramic crowns and veneers can be made to match your natural teeth identically.

Not only will they match the color of your natural teeth, they will match the luster, which is the way that light penetrates your natural tooth, giving it partial translucence, layering, and depth. With expertly made custom veneers and crowns, few people will be able to identify the repaired tooth–even dentists.

But Now Might Be a Good Time to Improve Your Smile

On the other hand, repairing this one tooth might be a good excuse to get that smile makeover you’ve been considering for a long time. Since you are already having one tooth repaired, it’s not a bad idea to look at how much it might save you to get a smile makeover at this point, rather than waiting until the future when you’d need another procedure, and probably need to have the old restoration removed.

During your consultation, we can talk about your smile goals and how best to achieve them. At a minimum, it’s not a bad idea to have teeth whitening first so that your new restoration can be matched to your brighter teeth.

Of course, some teeth might not respond to whitening. This could be because of metal amalgam fillings that are discolored and leaking. Or it could be related to the health of the tooth. Infected teeth are particularly susceptible to turning dark. An infected tooth needs to be treated, and not just for cosmetic reasons, either!

You might also decide to correct other complaints about your smile at the same time. Performing multiple procedures at once is easy thanks to sedation dentistry, which can help you remain comfortable during an extended treatment.

You’re in Control

In the end, it’s your smile, so we’ll defer to you about how you want to proceed with repairs. If you just want to get the one damaged tooth repaired, we can go with that. But if you want more teeth to be treated in order to achieve a more beautiful looking smile, that’s also a good option.